EIU Nowcast: Staggering job losses in April push nowcast further down

The EIU nowcast for the US economy in Q2 2020 weakened to -10.19% quarter-on-quarter versus the last print of -9.09% (during the last week of April), on account of the record level of job losses.

Employment data were the highlight of last week’s releases — data from BLS and ADP both confirmed staggering job losses in the US economy during April (more than 20 million) courtesy the Covid-19 related lockdowns.

Jobs lost in March 2020 were also revised higher.

Employment has now fallen to its lowest level in almost a decade (since February 2011) and is expected to fall further in May.

ISM Non-Manufacturing Index data released for April also showed a contraction, in line with expectations.

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